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In Stephen King’s 1978 post-apocalyptic sci-fi book “The Stand,” a Super Flu (known familiarly as “Captain Trips”) escapes a laboratory in California and spreads throughout North America, killing most of the population. In the book, 99.4% of people are susceptible to Captain Trips, and the disease’s mortality rate is 100%. Over a period of 19 days, Stephen "The King of Horror” outlines the total breakdown and destruction of modern-day society through the failure to contain the outbreak, widespread violence and, eventually, the death of virtually the entire population. The book was made into a TV mini-series in 1994 starring Gary Sinise and Molly Ringwald, and Stephen himself makes a cameo appearance as character Teddy Weizak.
Could the Mexican swine flu be the Super Flu?
Maybe, maybe not.
While Mexico reports that 156 confirmed cases (with as high as 2,230 suspected cases) and 9 confirmed deaths have been attributed to the flu, to date there has only been one death (out of 161 cases in 23 states) in the U.S. The following countries have reported laboratory confirmed cases with no deaths - Austria (1), Canada (34), Germany (3), Israel (2), Netherlands (1), New Zealand (3), Spain (13), Switzerland (1) and the United Kingdom (8). The first Asian case was reported in Hong Kong, China on May 1.
Confirmed cases of secondary transmission have been reported in the U.S., Canada, U.K., Spain and Germany. The World Health Organization still has not raised its alert level to a full pandemic phase.
History provides many episodes of influenza epedemics wiping out large numbers of people. Hippocrates described a flu virus 2,400 years ago. The most famous and lethal flu virus in the U.S. was the Spanish flu from 1918-1919 which experts estimate killed anywhere from 20 to 100 million people. And while that virus was mild at first, it later came back more virulent than before, making it extremely deadly.
With modern travel, the swine flu is certainly spreading rapidly. The World Health Organization has now raised the worldwide pandemic alert level to Phase 5 on April 29, 2009. This level alert refers to “a strong signal that a pandemic is imminent and that the time to finalize the organization, communication, and implementation of the planned mitigation measures is short.” As of 6 a.m. GMT on May 1, 2009, the number of cases in the U.S. stands at 141 (with only one death) and 11 countries have officially reported 331 cases of influenza.
Some advised precautions you can take to help prevent transmission:
Avoid any unnecessary travel.
If you’re sick, stay at home.
If you sneeze, don’t sneeze into your hands. Sneeze instead into your elbow. This will prevent any germs getting onto objects such as doorknobs and subway handles and spreading to others.
Use germ sanitizing solution frequently.
Avoid touching your face (eyes, nose and mouth).
View a video on Preventing Swine Flu Transmission
There is no risk of infection from this virus from consumption of well-cooked pork and pork products.
The Disease Prevention Examiner has an excellent up-to-date chart of the occurance of the flu in the U.S. and around the world.
Sites to monitor to keep abreast of the situation:
U.S. Department of State Travel Advisory site
World Health Organization (WHO)
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Related article: Tampa Bay has first suspected swine flu case
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